Chelsea’s recent inconsistent form has seen them drop to sixth in the Premier League and with the January transfer window open, fans want the ownership to make more signings to boost their chances of qualifying for the Champions League.
Manager Enzo Maresca had a great start to the campaign, with many suggesting they could be outsiders in the title race.
The manager would immediately shut down these comments, suggesting that Chelsea were not ready for a title battle, and it looks like he was right.
Between November and December, Chelsea won eight games in a row in all competitions.
Since then, they’ve played another eight, drawing three, losing three, and winning only two.
While their form has turned, other clubs in the league have started picking up big wins. Now, only four points separate third and seventh.
Chelsea will want to finish in the Champions League qualification spots, but with clubs like Newcastle, Bournemouth, and Nottingham Forest competing for these spots alongside Liverpool, Arsenal, and Manchester City, they face a big battle.
There have been a couple of reasons for Chelsea’s recent struggles.
They have an injury crisis at the back, with the club having to recall centre-back Trevoh Chalobah from his loan at Crystal Palace.
Meanwhile, players who were on top form earlier in the season are struggling to maintain those same levels.
One of these players is Nicolas Jackson. The forward looked brilliant for the first few months of the season, but now he is struggling.
In the first 13 Premier League matches of the season, Jackson managed eight goals. In his last nine league appearances, Jackson has scored only once.
If you want to qualify for the Champions League, you need to have a striker who can provide you with goals most weeks.
With the January transfer window open, Chelsea should be looking to bring in a prolific forward to help Jackson up top.
Since the window has been open, the only attacking signings that Chelsea have been strongly linked to are wingers.
Manchester United’s Alejandro Garnacho is a big target for the Blues, and he could still move to the West London club before deadline day.
Chelsea already have an abundance of wingers, and it feels like the club are not focusing on the bigger problem in their squad at the moment.
The January transfer window is always hard to navigate, but there are definitely some prolific forwards available for a club like Chelsea, who have a lot of money to spend.
Former transfer targets like Victor Osimhen are still available, whilst Viktor Gyokeres, who is one of the most in-form strikers in Europe, is reportedly allowed to leave Sporting CP for offers significantly lower than his £100m release clause.
Chelsea remain one of the favourites to qualify for the Champions League; however, this could all shift if they fail to regain consistency.
No doubt a prolific striker would help improve their chances of finishing the season well, but for now, it looks like Maresca will have to rely on Jackson to get back to his best.
Picture credit: Theodoritsis via Flickr – Under CC BY 2.0 license
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